If you are thinking about having a baby, there is a lot to consider. From your health, to lifestyle, budget and more, preconception planning is very important. And it’s not just for women.
Matt and Robin Drake were married at Quail Lakes in Fresno, back in June, 2004. Robin says it took a year to iron out all the details. “We were excited. But it took a lot of planning to get to that one day.”
Planning is important for the Drakes. The wedding day came after four and a half years of dating. Today, Robin is a schoolteacher and Matt is a web developer and IT tech. And now, the Drake’s are planning to extend their family.
Matt: “One male. One female.”
Robin: “Hopefully. No more than two. I think that’s our magic number. I would say our timeline is in the next two years.”
Matt: “Yeah.”
Anita Jensen is the Maternal Child Adolescent Health Director for Madera County Public Health. She says a couple should do a lot of thinking before they have a baby. They should try to determine when they will be ready for a child. “First and foremost she should actually have a life plan for when she wants to have her children. And this is not just true of women, it should be true for men, too.”
Anita says preconception planning also involves: health, medical history, age, diet, budget, career, lifestyle, and more.
Health
By actively pursuing good health before conception, Anita says a woman can increase her chances of a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. “She needs to be healthy. She needs to be physically active and mentally healthy. That means the stressors in her life have to be somewhat reduced. A man should be in his best health, too. He contributes half of the genetic material.”
Preconception Appointment
Schedule a preconception appointment with your doctor to make sure your body is ready for baby. The doctor will get a woman’s personal medical history and give her a complete physical exam. Anita says, “If something needs to be treated, like a chronic condition, such as hypertension or diabetes, then you would want that under really good control before you got pregnant.”
Immunization Records
Collect your immunization records and share them with your doctor. Anita points out, vaccinations are very important. “You would want to get the live virus vaccines, the chickenpox and the measles mumps and rubella when you are still using birth control. Because you want to be not pregnant for those, and for about 3 months after. But for the others, you can get most of them while you are pregnant. But the best protection for you and more importantly for your baby is to have them prior to becoming pregnant, that way you can pass on some of the immunity to your child.”
Medical History
Anita says you should be prepared to share your family’s medical history with your doctor, as well. “If you have any congenital problems, maybe a rare disorder within your family, you are going to want to bring a complete family history of that to the best of your ability to gather. That way a doctor can decide do we need to do further testing? How can we better plan for you baby and understand the risk?”
Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco
If a woman or her partner uses drugs, tobacco or alcohol, they should stop. It will affect the baby and your chances of conception. Anita says, “Stop smoking. Smoking is the leading cause of infant death. It is estimated by the surgeon general that 10-percent of infant deaths could be prevented if women were not smoking while pregnant. She needs to stop smoking. The most powerful influence on a woman using tobacco or substance is her partner. If he wants a healthy baby, and I have yet to meet a who doesn’t want a perfectly healthy baby, he needs to help his significant other or his wife by saying, ‘You know what, we’re in this together. I’ll stop. You stop.’ And that includes alcohol, the use of alcohol throughout the pregnancy and the use of drugs.”
It could also impact fertility. According to Anita, “If he is using a lot of alcohol, the chances of him conceiving a child go down dramatically. Alcohol causes abnormalities in the sperm and causes a reduction in the sperm count.”
Robin: “We don’t drink alcohol. We keep that out of our system.”
Matt: “We don’t smoke or do things that could harm the baby.”
Age
Anita says a woman’s age is also an important factor. “Generally speaking the cutoff line for greater risk is considered about 35. It’s different for different women, however. One of the risks at 35 that seems to go up rather dramatically is the risk of having a Down’s Syndrome child. Down’s Syndrome comes from the genetic material that a woman carries in her egg. And she has her eggs in her body most of her life. So by the time the egg is fertilized, it’s as old as she is. So if she’s 35, then the genetic material in the egg is 35 years old. So there is some evidence that that can start breaking down at some point in time.”
Weight
Extra weight can result in a difficult labor and put your baby at risk. Anita says, “Ideally, her weight should be perfect. It should be where it belongs. If she’s obese, then she carries tremendous risk for diabetes and for high blood pressure. Those each can affect an unborn baby. Diabetes that’s not extremely well controlled can cause deformities of the heart and the kidneys. Hypertension in the mother can result in Eclampsya or Preeclampsia that can make her very sick and in fact threaten her life. So, obesity is one of the biggest problems. Even a woman who is overweight has a greater risk. Has a harder labor has a more difficult delivery. So, ideal weight is what her goal should be.”
Robin: I know that both of us, we’ve both have been exercising a lot more. Trying to get into a daily routine of making exercise a part of our lives.
Healthy Diet and Vitamins
Anita says vitamins are an important part of the diet. “And a multi-vitamin, one a day, no more than that would be adequate to fill in a little bit on the folic acid. Folic acid supplement prevents things like neurotube spina bifida. And those kinds of disorders.”
A woman should be eating well. Vitamins are not a replacement for nutritious foods. Anita says, “Food isn’t just vitamins. Food is things like glutens and flavones and antioxidants. A tomato has 10-thousand of those in one tomato. So, you can’t take vitamins and replace what’s in food.”
Robin: Not eating fattening foods. Trying to cut back on things we shouldn’t be eating.
Matt: And the other thing is we’re working on making more meals at home, to eat healthier. Better meals, more balanced meals.
Man’s preparation for pregnancy
What about men? Anita says, “First of all, they are going to be an example for their child and a partner for their spouse. So, those two things of and by themselves are really important.”
But what about his general health? In addition to reducing sperm count, Anita says it creates a greater risk for other problems. “So, alcohol consumption by a man that is excessive, and I can not exactly tell you what excessive is, can result in not becoming pregnant when desired. There’s a lot of things that happen to children, such as Fragile X Syndrome, some other things we can’t explain. Is it possible that the sperm could have abnormal genetic material caused by substance use or tobacco smoking or alcohol use? We begin to think, maybe possibly. We don’t know for sure. So, a man should be in his best health, too. He contributes half of the genetic material.”
Budget
You will have to ask yourselves if your budget allows a for a child’s needs. Anita points out, “Having a child is expensive. How much financially do you want to be able to afford for a child?”
According to the latest estimate by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, families making $59,000 a year or more will spend nearly $198,000 to raise a child from birth to age 18.
Robin: “We’ve definitely started saving. So that when a child does come along we have that extra money.”
Career and Lifestyle
Anita makes no bones about it, having a baby requires a big commitment. “It also takes a lot of time. And there’s not shortcuts to that. A child needs your time. So, are you willing to give that at this point in time? Can you give that with your job? Can you give that where you are in your life?”
Matt and Robin are on the right track. They are excited about the future, knowing their planning will have them ready for baby.
Matt: “I imagine that we would be a lot more busy with a little one. I’m sure we’re going to be a lot more tired.”
Robin: “I think a lot of it is called balance. Being able to still do those date nights. Getting that babysitter and still being a good parent. You know being there with your kid but still having that balance of time for you, as well.”
More Info
USDA Cost of Raising a child
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/CRC/crc2006.pdf
(This is a PDF – 33 pages) |
